“There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man. Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ. But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him at his Coming, the grand consummation when, after crushing the opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father. He won’t let up until the last enemy is down—and the very last enemy is death!”
1 Corinthians 15:21-28, The Message
Paul is coming to the end of his first letter to the believers in Corinth, a thriving international city in the Roman Empire. Many religions lived side by side. Paul has been answering questions about problems facing the early church that had no seminaries, no denominational history, and no written scriptures. He is writing a letter that will be incorporated into the New Testament for generations to follow – you and me. He now talks about death and resurrection. Even today we disagree about whether Jesus actually died and then rose again. Paul talks about the resurrection of Christ as being central to Christianity. Offering human or animal sacrifices was a common practice for atoning for sins. We understand this concept. We pay fines for speeding. We put people in prison to “pay” for their misdeeds. We grieve over the public shootings in schools by some person upset about something that they feel they need to kill about. Horrible. We wring our hands and lament. Vengeance and sacrifice makes sense. What we struggle with is resurrection.
Paul points to the symmetry. Adam and Eve sinned. God said the penalty for their offense is death. All people will face death. I would argue that God never intended that we carry the weight of the tree of good and evil and death was a mercy to set us free as much as a punishment. In any case, we all must die. But likewise, it is possible for all people to have eternal life and reenter the Garden of Eden and live in God’s kingdom by believing in Jesus. One man, Adam, introduced death and one man, Jesus, introduces eternal life.
I love those apps that allow me to take a picture of a sick plant and then the app tells me if I need to trim, water, add sugar, or even garlic to the plant for it to regain health. In the slide of the app, the plant resurrects and becomes all it was meant to be. What picture comes to your mind when you think of resurrection? Let us thank God that he knows if we need sugar water or garlic water or trimming. There is hope for the future. Thank you Lord that we do not have to live forever carrying burdens you never intended for us to carry. Blessings.
On the Way to Wonder 